Emergency Plan Posts

Natural disasters are a serious problem in many parts of the world and can cause distress, disruption, and in many cases, casualties. If you live in an area prone to such calamities, be prepared to react quickly.

Have a detailed emergency plan in case your city is hit by a hurricane, a blizzard, or an earthquake. It’s also important to have a survival kit with food and medical supplies, and to have a basic understanding of CPR procedures if someone, unfortunately, gets hurt.

Learn more about the different ways to be prepared for a disaster:

Get a Survival Kit

You should have enough supplies to last at least two weeks, as you never know how long you’ll need to survive on your own. So, not only will you need plenty of nonperishable food, but you’ll also need one gallon of water per person day. Make sure you also have batteries, maps, tools, radios, and a week’s supply of medications (think of it as a month-long camping trip).

Create an Emergency Plan

When there’s an emergency plan in place, you just need to focus on following the right steps instead of being clueless about what to do. All your family members need to know the escape routes and meeting points close to your home, and you should also have everybody’s contact information in one place in case someone gets lost.

Learn Life-Saving Skills

Unfortunately, when disaster strikes, even if you’re extremely prepared, someone can still get hurt. So, it’s essential to have at least one member of the family trained in first aid emergencies, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), and AED (automated external defibrillator). These skills can save someone’s life in the event of a cardiac arrest.

Have a Back-Up Generator

Power outages are common in areas plagued by natural disasters. A few hours without electricity isn’t a big problem, but a couple of weeks can be a massive headache. Consider buying a back-up generator to keep your HVAC system working, keep your food fresh in the fridge, and charge electronic devices to keep you informed.

Be Prepared If You’re Not Home

Sometimes, catastrophes can happen when you’re at work, school, or even commuting. In that case, it’s important to know exactly what to do to increase your chances of survival. You should memorize alternate routes to get to a meeting point, have emergency contacts with you, and learn about emergency exit procedures on a train or station platform.

Check Emergency Alerts

If a disaster happens or is about to happen, the government will let the population know as soon as possible. Integrated Public Alert and Warning Systems will inform the population via the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs), Emergency Alert System (EAS), or the NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR). So, have all your devices turned on to learn about what’s going on.

At the end of the day, the only thing you can do against disasters is to be prepared. Don’t leave it to the last minute to have a strategy in place, or it might be too late. When you and your family know exactly what to do, it’s just a matter of following the emergency plan until everything’s back to normal.